Conservative US federal judges boycott Columbia University over Gaza protests

World

Published: 2024-05-07 10:43

Last Updated: 2024-05-19 16:33


Conservative US federal judges boycott Columbia University over Gaza protests
Conservative US federal judges boycott Columbia University over Gaza protests

Thirteen conservative federal judges in the US have announced they will no longer appoint Columbia Law School or undergraduate students due to the university's handling of pro-Gaza demonstrations.

Appointed by former President Donald Trump, the justices described Columbia's Manhattan campus as an "incubator of intolerance" in a letter to Columbia University President Minouche Shafik and Law School Dean Gillian Lester.

They claimed that "professors and administrators alike are at the forefront of campus unrest, which encourages the insidious spread of anti-Semitism and intolerance."

Columbia University and the Law School have not yet responded to the letter.

In response to ongoing protests, Columbia University canceled its main graduation ceremony yesterday.

Federal judges typically appoint law school graduates for year-long practical training, which can help them secure prestigious, high-paying jobs.

The judges stated that the boycott would affect students entering Columbia University this fall and demanded "serious consequences" for students and faculty involved in campus protests.

Protests against the Israeli Occupation aggression on Gaza spread to numerous American universities, with demonstrators staging sit-ins on Columbia's main campus for several weeks before temporarily taking control of the Hamilton Building last week.

The New York Police evacuated the building and arrested over 100 people.

All thirteen judges who signed the letter were appointed by Trump, who praised the NYPD's handling of the protesters, calling them "angry lunatics who sympathize with Hamas."

These thirteen judges represent a small portion of the approximately 900 federal judges in the country.

Meanwhile, amid ongoing sit-ins opposing Israeli aggression on Gaza at American universities and in response to police repression, high school students from across Boston walked out of classes.

According to American media, the students joined a sit-in at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in protest of increased police repression of the sit-ins.

Eleven high schools, including the private Boston Latin High School, expressed solidarity with Gaza by participating in the demonstrations.